by Wilder, L.
“Yeah.” I swallowed hard, trying to get a grip on my overactive hormones, before saying, “I think you’re right.”
Still feeling heated from our embrace, I climbed into the truck, and it wasn’t long before we were on our way. We hadn’t been riding long when I glanced over at Clay and smiled as I thought about the kisses we’d shared. I was intrigued by how sweet and docile he could be one moment, only to turn so commanding and possessive the next. I won’t deny that I liked it—I liked it a lot, especially when he kissed me the way he did. Damn. It was absolutely incredible, and I couldn’t wait for another chance to have his mouth on mine. When I noticed that he was heading back towards my apartment, it hit me that I might get that chance sooner than later. While I liked the idea, I was enjoying my night with him and not ready for it to be over, so I was pleased when he turned to me and asked, “Have you eaten yet?”
“No, I didn’t get a chance. Why?”
“I was thinking we could grab something if you had time.” He glanced back at Duchess, then said, “But I’m not sure how we can do that with her tagging along.”
“We could get takeout at my place.”
“That could work. You sure that’ll be okay?”
“Absolutely.” I tried not to sound overly excited as I told him, “We just have to decide what we want to eat. I’d cook something, but it’s been a while since I’ve gone to the grocery store.”
“No problem. We’ll just hit a drive-through on the way.”
“Sounds good to me.”
We went back and forth several times on where to stop, but eventually decided on tacos. After we grabbed dinner, we headed back over to my place. As soon as we were parked, Clay took Duchess by the leash and walked her over to a grassy area, giving her a chance to have a bathroom break before we started upstairs. Once she was done, I helped him gather our food, and we went up to my apartment. With my crazy schedule, there were days when I didn’t have time to pick up like I wanted to, but thankfully, I’d had a little extra time this afternoon and was able to do the dishes and even a load of laundry. While it wasn’t perfect, it was far from a mess, so I wasn’t completely embarrassed when Clay took a moment to look around. “You’ve got a nice place here.”
“Thank you,” I replied as I put our food on the table. “It’s small, but my neighbors are nice and I feel safe here.”
“I’ve been looking for a place myself.” He made his way over to the table and sat down. “Just haven’t found what I’m looking for yet.”
“And what’s that?”
“I don’t know.” He gave me a small shrug as I put a couple of tacos on his plate, and then two on mine. “I’m kind of hoping I’ll know it when I see it.”
“I’m sure you will.” I picked up one of the tacos as I told him, “You seem like the kind of guy who knows what he wants.”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
He gave me a wink, and we both started eating. Clay was just about to bite into his second taco when his cell phone started to ring. He took it out of his pocket, and a look of disappointment crossed his face as he read the screen. “Sorry, I’ve gotta take this.”
I nodded, then watched as he stood up and walked into the living room. I heard him answer, “Yeah?”
There was a brief pause, and then he replied, “Yeah, no problem. I’m on my way.”
He hung up the phone and walked back into the kitchen. Before he had a chance to say anything, I stood up and began clearing the table. I felt him come up behind me, so I said, “I know, you’ve got to go.”
“I hate to leave like this, but yeah, I do.” My back was still to him as he continued, “It’s part of the deal with prospecting. When they need me, I’ve gotta be there.”
“I understand.”
“You sure about that?” Clay reached for my arm, gently turning me to face him. “’Cause this is how it’s gonna be until I get my patch. If you can’t handle that, I need to know.”
Even though I wasn’t sure what I was actually saying, I nodded and said, “I can handle it.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
He leaned down and kissed me, long and hard, causing my body to melt into his arms. As much as I didn’t want him to go, I knew he didn’t have a choice, so I didn’t resist when he pulled free from our embrace. Without saying a word, he walked over to the counter and wrote something down on a piece of paper. Once he was done, he walked back over to me and offered me the note. “Here’s the address to the clubhouse. The party will start around seven on Friday night.”
“Okay.” I was surprised that he mentioned it, especially after the way he’d reacted when his friend T-Bone brought it up. “Does this mean you want me to come?”
“Of course, I do.” He placed his arm around my waist as he inched me closer. “Just remember, there’ll be things that I have to take care of, so I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to spend with you.”
“Is there any point in me coming?”
“I figure this is as good a chance as any for you to get acquainted with the brothers.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve gotta go.” He kissed me on the forehead before turning and heading for the door. “Good night, Landry.”
“Night!”
He opened the door, and with Duchess following close behind, he disappeared into the night. The door closed, and suddenly the apartment seemed oddly empty. I couldn’t take the silence, so I turned on the TV and listened to an old movie play in the background as I finished cleaning up our dinner. Once I was done, I shut off the TV and got ready for bed, then grabbed my case files and lay under the covers. I grabbed the Strayhorn file and started reading it over. Just as I’d hoped, it was the perfect thing to distract me from all my crazy thoughts about Clay, and it wasn’t long before I fell fast asleep. The next morning, I was up and out of the apartment before eight, and I spent the entire day working on reports and studying up on a new case. There were times when my mind would drift to Clay, but I tried to stay busy, hoping it would help keep my nerves about the upcoming party in check. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
When I got home from work, I was looking through my closet and started to panic when I realized I had no idea what to wear. I’d never been to a clubhouse, much less a clubhouse party, so I wasn’t sure if I should wear something super casual or go all out. I was staring at all the different outfits I’d laid across my bed when my cell phone rang. I was tempted to just let it ring, but inevitably, I took it off the bedside table and answered, “Hey, Mom. I’m kind of busy.”
“You’re always busy, dear,” she complained. “What are you busy doing tonight?”
“I’m trying to find something to wear to a party.”
I knew it was a mistake to tell her, but the words came out before I could stop myself. “A party! That’s wonderful. What kind of party is it?”
“It’s just a regular party, Mom.”
“Well, you should wear that black dress you wore to your grandparents’ anniversary party. You looked wonderful in it.”
“I don’t know. I think it might be too dressy for this kind of party.”
“Nonsense. You can dress it up or down. It’s all in the accessories,” she argued. “Just throw on a couple of those silver bracelets you wear, a pair of cute earrings, and your boots. Oh ... and leave your hair down. It looks so pretty when you leave it down.”
While I liked the black dress, I wasn’t sure I had the confidence to wear it to a biker party, but I was in no mood to argue. “Okay.”
“That’s wonderful! You’ll look great. I promise.”
“Um ... okay. Well, it’s getting late, and I still have some work I need to do.”
“Okay,” she replied with disappointment. “Let me know how the party goes.”
“I will.”
I tossed my phone down on the bed and spent another hour going through all my clothes. When I couldn’t find anything I liked better, I decided to just wear the stupid b
lack dress like my mother had suggested. Feeling overly anxious, I took a hot shower and crawled into bed. I was just about to turn out the light when I received a text message. Thinking it was my mother again, I was reluctant to even check my phone, but thankfully, curiosity got the best of me. A huge grin spread across my face as soon as I saw that it was from Clay.
Clay:
Hey. It’s Clay.
Me:
Hey! It’s nice to hear from you.
Clay:
I just wanted to let you know that Duchess was thinking about you.
Me:
Is that right? Well, you can let her know that I was thinking about her too. I actually think I might’ve found someone to take her today.
Clay:
Really? I was kind of getting used to having her around.
Me:
It’s only a possibility, but she seemed really interested.
Clay:
Guess we’ll just have to see how it goes.
Me:
I guess we will.
Clay:
You still coming tomorrow night?
Me:
Planning on it.
Clay:
Good. I’ll see you then.
Me:
Okay. Good night. ☺
Prospect
I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. I knew it was a bad idea for Landry to come to this fucking party. Hell, I would’ve never even mentioned it to her if it hadn’t been for T-Bone bringing the shit up. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve thought the man was trying to stab me in the fucking back, but deep down, I knew that wasn’t what it was all about. He was trying to prove a point—I had to learn to manage the things I could control and accept the things I couldn’t. At the moment, I was struggling with the latter. When Dane sent word that she was at the gate, I rushed outside to meet her. As soon as she stepped out of the car, I knew I was in trouble. She was wearing a fitted black dress that showed off every single curve, and with her hair down around her shoulders, I was barely able to keep my hands off her. I wanted to keep her close, make sure no one fucked with her, but that wasn’t an option. I had things I had to tend to, so I got her a beer and put her at a table with Darcy and August. I’d hoped that they’d be able to keep the predators at bay, but I was wrong.
I was stocking the beer coolers when I noticed T-Bone and Gauge making small talk with her. At first it seemed pretty innocent, but when T-Bone walked off, Gauge stayed put. I could tell by the way he was looking at her that he was interested, and to make matters worse, she wasn’t exactly blowing him off. Instead, she was smiling and talking to him like she was actually enjoying herself. Even though I’d seen her watching me and knew she’d come there for me, it was getting under my skin seeing them like that. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. I hadn’t laid claim to her, and even if I did, I was a prospect—a goddamn bottom dweller in the club. No one gave a fuck about any claims I might or might not have made.
I was watching them out of the corner of my eye as I cleared the tables of empty beers when Viper came over and chuckled. “You got something on your mind, son?”
“Nope,” I lied as I tossed a few empties into the garbage can. “Just trying to get this shit cleaned up.”
“Hmph.” I’d almost forgotten how big Viper was until I found him standing in front of me with his arms crossed and his brow cocked. “So, that sour look on your face has nothing to do with the beautiful brunette sitting over there talking to one of Fury’s brothers?”
I peered back over at Landry and Gauge, and my stomach twisted into a knot as soon as I found them both laughing. I was still staring in their direction when Landry’s eyes met mine. She held my gaze for only a moment, then turned her attention back to Gauge. Frustrated, I tossed another couple of empty beers into the garbage and grumbled, “Fuck it. Nothing I can do about it anyway.”
I grumbled several curses under my breath while Viper stood there watching me without saying a word. When I finally stopped chucking bottles into the garbage, he looked down at me with a scowl and asked, “You done with your little tantrum?”
“Yeah.” I let out a slow cleansing breath as I told him, “This shit is harder than I thought it was gonna be.”
“Things worth having usually are. Just keep your focus. Prospecting won’t last forever.” He nodded his head over in Landry’s direction. “And if that girl is worth having, she’ll stand by ya until this thing is done.”
“Maybe she will. Maybe she won’t.” I shrugged. “Either way, a girl like her deserves better than what I can give her right now.”
“It’ll be worth it in the end.”
“Yeah. You keep saying that.” I took a quick survey of the packed room, and I found it odd to see so many of my uncle’s brothers here at the clubhouse, especially with knowing Viper like I did. The man was protective to a fault. He trusted no one, never letting anyone get too close—not even a woman. Hell, the man was almost fifty, and he still hadn’t settled down with an ol’ lady. He’d say he didn’t need the fucking distraction, but something told me there was more to that story. I knew better than to ask him though. Instead, I simply shrugged and said, “I guess time will tell.”
“Yes, it will.” A smug smile crept across his face. “I’ll look forward to the day when you admit I was right.”
“Mm-hmm.” Even though a piece of me knew he was right, I wasn’t going to let him know that. “Don’t hold your breath.”
I’d barely gotten the words out of my mouth, when I felt a hand on my back, followed by a familiar voice saying, “Clay, my man. How’s it going?”
“Hey, Hawk. It’s been a while.” Hawk was Viper’s sergeant-at-arms. I’d gotten to know him, along with the other brothers, when I’d visited Viper at his clubhouse. He was a good guy and I’d always thought a lot of him, so I was pleased to have a chance to see him again. “How have you been making it?”
“Pretty good. Just staying busy. You know how it is with your uncle. He’s always got us on the move.” Without realizing what I was doing, I glanced back over in Landry’s direction and grimaced when I saw that Gauge had gotten her another fucking beer. I wanted to be the one sitting there next to her, and it was eating at me that I couldn’t. Noticing my aggravation, Hawk nudged me and asked, “What’s with the chick? She your girl? ’Cause it sure looks like your buddy is trying hard to make a play.”
The knot in my stomach grew even tighter as I told him, “To be honest, I don’t even know. Right now, I’ve gotta get this shit done before the brothers have my ass.”
“Well, I’ll let you get to it.”
I nodded and headed towards the back to meet up with Dane so we could check inventory. I hoped that it wouldn’t take long, so I could look in on Landry. Unfortunately, we were running low on beer and needed to make a run. I sent Landry a message, letting her know what was up, but she didn’t respond. I knew that wasn’t a good sign, and I was right. By the time we’d returned, Landry was no longer sitting at the table with Darcy and Gauge. Instead, she was at another table—alone with Hawk. Fuck. As much as I liked Hawk, I knew he was a fucking player. If there was a beautiful woman in a fifty-mile radius, you could bet money that he’d make a play on her, but I’d be damned if he was going to make a fucking move on Landry. Not on my fucking watch.
Landry’s eyes narrowed when she spotted me walking in their direction. Yeah, she was pissed. Hell, I couldn’t blame her. I hadn’t said two fucking words to her all night, but there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it and I intended to set things straight—with her and with Hawk. I was just a few feet away when Gus called out to me, “Hey, Clay. I got something I need you to do.”
“Be right there.” If it had been anyone other than the president, I might’ve tried to put them off, but there was no way in hell I could do that to Gus. When he wanted a hand, you gave it to him. Period. I quickly turned back, and as I hurried towards him, I asked, “Whatcha got?”
�
��Samantha is ready to head home, so I’m gonna need you to run her to the house.”
Samantha was Gus’s ol’ lady, and all the brothers thought a great deal of her. She was one of those truly genuine women who wasn’t quick to judge, and we respected her for it. Gus and Samantha had only recently crossed paths again, so he was very protective where she was concerned. “Sure thing, Prez.”
“She’s waiting for you in the kitchen.”
“Headed that way now.”
“Be careful.” He gave me a warning look as he said, “You’ll be carrying precious cargo.”
“Yes, sir. Absolutely.”
Knowing I couldn’t just walk out on Landry again, I headed over to the table where she was sitting with Hawk and said, “Hey ... I’ve gotta run Samantha home. I’ll be back in twenty.”
“Okay. Take your time.”
“Yeah, brother. Take your time.” Hawk winked before saying, “I’ll keep an eye on her while you’re gone.”
It took all I had not to knock his fucking teeth right out of his fucking mouth, but I managed to hold it together. I knew it wouldn’t be good if I lost my shit with him. Not only would Gus have my ass, Viper would too. I gritted my teeth as I told him, “Don’t do me any favors, Hawk. I’m sure Landry can take care of herself.”